Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Speak out on Smith Mountain Lake's level
From the RoundTable blog
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Bill Reidenbach
Reidenbach is a resident of Penhook.
If you are happy with the way Smith Mountain Lake's water level is managed, end of story. If you don't know how the water level is managed, shame on you. If you want water level managed differently, speak up.
The commonwealth is going to change the water release protocol that manages the lake level for better or worse. The impact will affect the next 30 to 50 years of lake operation. You get a voice Thursday at Gretna High School.
In a nutshell, the current license requires water releases from the project regardless of the impact on the amount of water remaining within or flowing into the project. The current and proposed future protocol provides supplemental water (Smith Mountain Lake inventory) to maintain flow downstream of the project regardless of what nature is doing.
According to a July 25 story in Lake Living, the minimum outflow the protocol required is 650 cubic feet per second; at the current inflow of 201 cfs, water inventory is lost. That translates into a lower Smith Mountain Lake water level.
The current recourse to stem the discharge is for Appalachian Power to request a variance, but loss of inventory has a negligible impact on electrical generation. Appalachian doesn't seek a variance to protect inventory until millions upon millions of gallons of water have been lost and sufficient concerns are expressed over and over. That loss is reflected as a loss of Smith Mountain Lake's water level. Leesville Lake stays within fixed limits.
Appalachian allows recreation to decline and hazardous navigation conditions to arise. Anyone who has been at the lake at least eight years has felt the impact.
n Marina docks become unreachable.
n Private docks become unusable.
n Navigation becomes more difficult and hazardous.
n Residences at the back end of coves become inaccessible to marine fire and rescue services.
n Withdrawal of water for drinking may be restricted.
The new license application perpetuates much of this protocol. It has no provision for protecting the shoreline, tourist and recreation interests, residences and businesses that lose water that can be navigated, or real estate values -- the county tax base.
If you agree with that way of life, end of story. If you don't know, find out. If it seems unnecessary or unfair, attend the Department of Environmental Quality's public hearing from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday at Gretna High School. Show interest. It is going to be a body count.
Franklin County Gills Creek Supervisor Russ Johnson hit the nail on the head the Lake Living article: Make the release equal the inflows when Smith Mountain Lake's water level approaches 792 feet, 3 feet below full pond.
Let's get behind the county and show our support.
